Many efforts have been made to synthesize superconducting nanoparticles, such as yttrium barium copper oxide (“YBCO”) superconducting nanoparticles, and to use the superconducting nanoparticles in nanowires, nanofibers, and nanocomposites. However, YBCO superconducting nanoparticles synthesized through conventional solid-state reactions exhibit poor homogeneity, high porosity, and a relatively large particle size due to the formation of impurities, such as barium carbonate (BaCO3), during the reactions. As such, research has focused on wet chemical techniques, such as sol-gel methods, co-precipitation methods, spray-drying methods, and microemulsion methods to obtain YBCO superconducting nanoparticles having a better morphology. Though wet chemical techniques result in high quality nanoparticles, the cost and complexity of their synthesis is much higher relative to solid-state techniques. As such, a new, more economical method to prepare high quality YBCO superconducting nanoparticles using solid-state techniques is needed.